mel jacobson on mon 24 apr 06
the mayor sent that special car to take us
to the next big town that had a quality railhead for
our trip to ee-jing, the `teapot city`.
yes, the entire city is dedicated to clay and the famous
unglazed, dark brown teapots. it is without question
a favorite spot for po. he loves the people, their dedication
and work. it is a wonderful place for a potter to visit.
it is a small town, 2.5 million people.
a big black VW town car arrived...we even had some extra
room for the bags. nice. we roared off with the driver knowing
full well where he was going....great day, warm, about 80. clear
sky. wonderful farm/rural scenery. we just whisked along.
about an hour into the trip, with plenty of time to spare to make
our train, heard a thump,thump,thump...i yelled...`hey, we have a
flat tire`. he drove for at least another two minutes...tire ruined.
we were stopped in the middle of `no where`. no traffic...nothing.
po tried 911, the cop said, `we don't do tires`, and hung up.
so, we took out all the baggage, cases...got out the spare, and thank
god there was a spare, and the jack...the fellow was obviously a driver
and not a mechanic. he had the jack in the wrong place, car was tippy.
so, po and mel sorta took over. i said...`where is the wrench for the nuts?`
he held out has hands and said...`this is all we have.` NO LUG NUT WRENCH.
and, we meet a train in an hour, have to get this tire changed, it is getting
hot and sticky and we are stranded. so, po stands in the road, waving, all the
cars just went passed us. no one stopped, finally a lady came on a motor
scooter with a child, she was of no help..said she was `sorry`. an old
truck came by..no help.
finally po said. `mel, you stand in the middle of the highway, don't
let them drive by, they will stop for a gray haired foreign devil`.
one guy did. we rummaged through his trunk and found a wrench.
but the size was wrong. we look some more and i found a second head
for the wrench, and WWWooooo, it fit. off came the old tire/wheel, on
went the new spare...and off we roared. and, we got there, just in time
to rush to the track and find our overnight compartment...but this
time....no nice young women...two very snarly cops/plain clothes.
they had the bottom bunks and they did not do upppers..
but, po did some magic with the hostess,
got us changed around a bit, and i moved next door, a professor from
ucla univeristy in california was above me, and a couple of strange
dudes from who knows where next to us. the guy from ucla was six months
teaching in shanghai, six months at ucla. he was chinese, 100 percent.
interesting stuff to talk about.
we arrived about 30 miles from ee-jing, took a dopey bus full of
very strange locals, had a huge argument when he dropped us
off about two miles from the hotel(he did not do traffic), and we got
another local
bus that drove us right to the hotel. po was exhausted, and
red in the face from the bus fight. but, the hotel was 5 star. we
each had a room, and the breakfast, shower, shave and rest time
was a delight. well worth the funny trip. at ten o'clock we went
off to meet folks and see teapots, went to the museum, toured a bit,
went to more wonderful potteries, met great `one of a kind`, teapot
makers...and smiled all day.
ee-jing is a great city. full of potters.
everyone was kind, considerate, helpful and wanted our company.
potters all.
mel
it is amazing how one misses a guy like bob anderson from
antigo wisconsin when you have a flat. we would have had
that saga taken care of in seven minutes. bob does not mess around.
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3
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